"I'm sorry!?" Spade's jaw dropped at King's outrageous command. "You want me to shoot the base?!"
"Relax…" King sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he realized his original phrasing sounded rather absurd. "I didn't mean blow the entire base to smithereens with that gargantuan cannon. I meant that you will shoot the lower half of the base from behind. All of those mages who snuck their way in here are in the lower levels."
"The lower levels…?" Spade paused for a second. For some reason he seemed hesitant on the idea, but nodded shortly after. "I'll do just that…but what about Diamond and Strong? Aren't they on the lower levels as well?"
"If they have any worth, they'll make it out alive," King replied. His tone suddenly became a little more demanding. "If you don't do this, there will be more at stake than those two. I'm sure you know what I mean."
Spade froze, nodding frantically seconds later. "O-Of course…!" He then snapped his fingers, causing a low, but loud humming noise to occur from the cannon of Nirvana. "Nirvana…" Before the beam of magic could shoot out from the cannon, several oval shaped blasts came from above, crashing right into a few legs of Nirvana, causing it to cease fire for the time being. All this did was buy just a little bit of time. "What the…!?" Spade looked up to see where the source of fire came from, only to see the Christina overhead.
"I was hoping we wouldn't have to deal with this thing ever again…" Hibiki said while staring down at Spade. "How did he even manage to obtain and operate it…?!"
"Who are these clowns!?" Spade growled as the ship circled around Nirvana.
"Excellent work, men!" Ichiya exclaimed with large grin. "We've managed to put a delay on it, but we won't be getting much more unless we can completely destroy it like last time…"
"I won't let you stand in my way!" Spade exclaimed while extending both hands forward. A blue and red magic seal appeared on both of his hands, unleashing black bolts of gravity towards the ship in attempt to ground it.
"What's going on over there!?" Jenny asked, only able to make out certain parts because she could only see via lacrima screen.
"Trouble!" Hibiki quickly replied with a sweat drop.
"That's it, I'm coming over there!" Jenny huffed. "Time to test out that new system…" And before Hibiki could question her on what she was talking about, the lacrima communication cut off.
"Evasive maneuvers!" Ren shouted.
"On it!" Eve replied, quickly activating the evasive maneuvers of Christina to avoid all of the blackened gravity spheres Spade was shooting at them. "Damn, this guy is crazy accurate!"
"We have to shake him off somehow…!" Ichiya grunted. "Men!"
"We're on it!" Eve shouted, leaping onto the railing with Ren. Eve extended his hands, a light blue magic wheel appearing before him. "White Fury!"
Following suit with Eve, Ren extended his hands forward, a clear magic seal forming in front of him. "Tornado Shot!" From the magic seal, a tornado shot out alongside Eve's White Fury, merging it into a powerful blizzard that rushed towards Spade.
"Tch!" Spade prepared himself for what was coming, but was surprised to find that it was not for damage, but it was merely a distraction. The blizzard merely clouded his vision and sent a powerful chill down his spine. "Damn…!"
"Now we have some breathing room…" Hibiki let out a relieved sigh as the Christina flew off to gain some distance.
"Damn wizards…" Spade grunted while trying to make his way out of the blizzard around him. Seconds after, it all just seemed vanish into thin air. "Eh…?"
"Worthless…" A feminine voice spoke out while their heels clicked along the surface of Nirvana. Minerva Orlando walked forward with her right hand extended, while the left rested on her hips. "You let those clowns outplay you…? I thought you were supposed to be the brains among this pathetic group?"
"Tch…" Spade merely scoffed as Minerva made her presence known. It didn't look like she was not in a stellar mood.
"I cannot believe this." Minerva tapped her foot with an annoyed expression. "King knew exactly what I came here for, and he assigns me to deal with this toy? I should have ripped his tongue out from his mouth the instant he suggested it."
"Joker would've stopped you." Spade remarked. Minerva's eyes narrowed at him for the insinuation.
"I am here for Erza Scarlet." Minerva scowled. "I don't care for the rest of this plan. This is the second strike."
Spade realized Minerva's patience was growing thin, but he had an idea. "Now, hold on, Minerva." He turned to her, his tone shifting to something more confident. "We know you're here for Erza, but she's currently busy dealing with our horde of monsters. A whole 200 of them."
"Do you really believe that 200 monsters is enough to defeat her?" Minerva quirked a brow.
"Do you?" Spade threw the question back at her. "Think of it like this...you enjoy savoring your meals, correct? So, consider this Nirvana operation the appetizer. Once we're done here, you can sink your fangs into the main course. The faster we can deal with these nuisances, the quicker you can dispose of Erza. That extra bit of waiting makes the inevitable encounter all the more worthwhile, don't you think?"
Minerva had to ponder this for a moment. Her growing fury was quelled by the point Spade made. At the end of the day, there was no greater sensation than sinking her fangs into Erza. She could almost taste the sweet revenge. "You're quite skilled with wordplay. If only it was enough to get you out of the situation you were in." Spade grimaced and looked at Minerva with a shocked expression. "What, you think I didn't know about that? I saw you attempt to sneak into a certain area within the base numerous times. Whatever for, I don't care. But I can gauge that there's something in your base that you can't seem to talk your way out of."
"..." Spade didn't respond. "The sooner we finish this operation, the sooner I won't have to worry about it. Now, you'll lend me a hand, won't you?"
"Don't get in my way." Minerva replied with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I'm different than them. I don't need anyone. I don't need help." She wouldn't be weak. She wouldn't be like how Sabertooth was. She could make a name with her own strength, she knew it...
.
.
"That was too close…" Hibiki said while rubbing his temples.
"We need to do something about that…" Ren said while crossing his arms. "Everyone is inside, I'm not sure we can reach them…"
"I knew you boys would be useless without me…" Jenny said as she suddenly appeared on the ship in a flash of light.
"Jenny?!" The crew exclaimed in surprise.
"How did you get here so quickly?" Hibiki questioned.
"I may or may not have taken over some devices on this ship…" Jenny replied with an innocent smile before a serious expression crossed her face. "But now isn't the time to be amazed by me. There needs to be a plan to take on that thing."
"We can't take it down alone. There needs to be six of us…" Ren explained. "If we could get a small group from inside the base outside it wouldn't be an issue, but…"
.
.
"Tch!" Natsu slid back across the floor, glaring towards Strong who still had the white aura around him. "What the hell happened!? It's like he got stronger…!" On top of Strong's power, there were multiple vines that everyone had to deal with. Natsu was able to burn them, but the others had to slice through the or risk their sapping powers making this fight even harder than it already was.
"Heck if I know…" Ace grunted. "All I know is that he's eating up a lot of our time right now…"
"I'm getting sick of this myself!" Gajeel shouted, allowing one arm to morph into his Iron Dragon's Sword. "I'll cut him down to size!" Gajeel then rushed forward, bringing his sword arm up. "Iron Dragon's Sword!"
"I don't think so!' Strong swung his club towards Gajeel's incoming sword, the two clashing but only for a brief moment. Strong quickly overpowered Gajeel seconds later, sending Gajeel flying back. "Ha!"
"White Shadow Dragon's Rough Silk…" Takeru mumbled from the shadows, unleashing thin beams of shadows from a black magic seal in front of him. Growing frustrated with this fight, he upped the ante on his power and entered his Dual Mode.
"Gh..!?" Strong crossed his arms, grunted silently as the beams began to pierce through him somewhat, but the damage overall was nothing he couldn't handle in the long run. "C'mon, is that all you got!?" In turn, he slammed his skull into Takeru's own
"Natsu!" Ace called out to the Salamander while spinning around, fire appearing around his body. "Fire Dance!" Ace then spun sharply, unleashing a tornado of fire towards Strong.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!" Natsu followed up with his signature roar, unleashing a funnel of flames that merged with Ace's Fire Dance, resulting in a giant stream of fire to race towards Strong.
"I can already tell you that won't work, and I'm the dumb one!" Openly admitting to his own stupidity, Strong placed his Club in front of him defensively, blocking the large stream of fire that came his way. He was pushed back a foot across the floor, but he managed to forcefully disperse the attack with a swing of his club. The ensuing shockwave nearly caused everyone to fly backwards as a result. "HA!"
"You've gotta be kiddin' me…" Gajeel growled. "Nothing we throw at this guy is working…!"
"We were fine until that aura appeared…" Pantherlily said with a grunt.
"No kidding…" Happy agreed. He was quite worried about the direction this fight was going.
.
.
"Do you see how this game works now?" Daigo asked Levy and Royal while tapping his fingers on the Wheel of Misfortune. "Your friends won't be doing much progress unless you know how to play, and win."
"What a tricky game…" Levy admitted through clenched teeth. "This wheel has another gimmick to it that you're not telling us…"
"What makes you say that?" Daigo asked coyly with a subtle grin on his lips. "It's not a wheel made to give you good luck, you know."
"There's somethin' you're not telling us," Royal repeated Levy's words, but only shrugged nonchalantly afterwards. "But in the end it won't matter will it, because we'll figure it out anyway?"
"You catch on quick for a drunk," Daigo chuckled lightly. "I like you, Royal." The Dealer mage admitted. "But the thing is, will you be able to catch on before it's too late?"
"We've got us a smartypants here, so if she's as smart as they say I'm sure she'll come up with something, right?" Royal asked Levy while giving her a pat on the back.
"R-Right…" Levy nodded slowly, totally feeling the pressure building up on her. She had to figure out the trick behind this damned wheel, otherwise everyone would be at a severe disadvantage in their fights. She had no clue where to start, but she couldn't let that show. "Okay, here we go again…" Levy walked over to the wheel and spun it again. What it landed on only caused Daigo to chuckled.
"Oh my…" The Dealer mage said with a growing laugh. "How….unfortunate…"
.
.
An icy explosion nearly shook the lower half of Dealer's base. Luke, Selene, and Wendy were all leapt back, avoiding a multitude of ice spears while Warren and Carla hid behind a corner due to their inability to fight. "Oh, hold still, would you!?" Diamond shouted in annoyance while pelting the mages with ice lances, none of which hitting their mark.
"I'd rather not…!" Luke replied while ducking under some cover with Selene and Wendy. "Did we have to get stuck with the ice princess!?"
"Oh stop complaining, this is about the 3rd time we've clashed…and we're even." Selene rolled her eyes. "I could still eat her, but getting close is going to be an issue like this…"
"I have an idea…!" Wendy nodded. "Just follow my lead, please?"
"Just hurry up…!" Luke replied.
"Hai!" Wendy nodded, quickly hopping from cover with her hands extended. "Sky Dragon's Wing Slash!" She spun her arms around, sending a powerful current of wind towards Diamond, cutting through the ice spears that were being launched.
"Oh no, I'm not letting you get off that easy little girl…" Diamond said while wagging her finger. The temperature in the area quickly dropped below zero and beyond, freezing the wind just before it struck her. "How's that feel?"
"C-C-Cold…!" Wendy shivered, rubbing her arms desperately to keep warm.
"D-Damn…" Luke shivered. "G-Get outta there…!"
"Watch this!" Diamond grinned, twirling her finger around. All the ice in the room concentrated in a small spiral around her finger, which she pointed forward at the opposing mages. "Ice Beam!" The small spiral turned into an enormous beam of ice that covered the entire corridor, sweeping everyone in it. "Ha…I love the nice cold air, how about you? It's not often I share this with people…"
The corridor was partially frozen while the rest of it was destroyed. Luke, Selene, Wendy, Warren, and Carla lay on the ground, moderately damaged by the Ice Beam. "Geez…" Luke groaned before sitting up, rubbing his head. "Man, I'm used to the cold living in the mountains and all, but I hate your cold…"
"That wasn't pleasant…" Wendy admitted with a soft whine.
"I agree…" Carla responded.
"Oh, come now…That was just the welcoming blizzard!" Diamond said with a sinister grin. "I have to give you the housewarming gift, don't I? I'm only just getting started!"
"I'm 100% certain that doesn't mean what you think it means…" Luke quickly commented.
"Just shut up and fight before she freezes you to the bone…" Selene snapped at Luke, causing him to get into battle.
"Right, right…" Luke nodded. "Okay, let's make this quick. We don't have all day."
.
.
"No matter how far I walk it seems like there's nothing ahead…" Mirajane mumbled to herself while quietly traversing the hallways of Dealer's Hideout. "I do hope Lisanna and Elf-nii are alright…It would be a shame if anyone brought harm to them…" She spoke with a slightly sadistic tone at the end. Her mind immediately flashed to Joker who almost killed Lisanna that one time; she couldn't do anything back then, but she was determined to do something now if the time arose. Eventually, she came across a lone door in the middle of the hallway. "Ah…there we go." She tiptoed over to it quietly, making sure there we no traps around it. Once the way seemed clear, she opened the door and stepped inside. What was inside was a bunch of communication lacrima, too many to be exact. "What are all these for…?"
"Probably to ship out to the other countries…" Zalen said from the corner. He was with Chelia and Cynthia.
"Mira!" Cynthia leapt from the ground and tackle hugged the takeover mage, nuzzling her waist. "I'm so glad you're alright…!"
"Whoa, Cynthia!" Mirajane smiled as Cynthia hugged her, looking over to Zalen and Chelia. "How did you three end up here?"
"This place is a walking death trap, I tell ya…" Zalen said while adjusting his glasses. "Not to mention its very unsanitary…Everywhere I look there's dirt…"
"He literally scrubbed down this entire room before he let us sit down…" Chelia gave a nervous laugh, a comical sweat drop appearing on the side of her head.
"Anyway," Zalen said while leaning against the wall. "No doubt this Lacrima have a special purpose. I'm guessing King is going to send them to the other countries to give them warning while he goes through his plan here."
"We can't have that, now can we…?" Mirajane replied. It was then that one of the lacrima screen activated, revealing Jenny's face, immediately causing Mirajane to scowl unnoticeably by habit. "Jenny?"
"Oh…it's you." Jenny replied with disinterest before shaking her dislike for Mirajane aside. "Now isn't the time for pettiness. We have a serious issue on our hands!"
"What's the problem?" Cynthia asked.
"It appears that Spade Magnes has gained control of Nirvana…and he was aiming on destroying the entire basement section of the base…" Jenny reported.
"He what!?" Zalen's eyes widened at the news. He did his homework so he knew just how much of a threat Spade Magnes was at the moment. "How did he get control of that thing?! It was supposed to be inactive after Alliance defeated the Oracion Seis…"
"Uh…" Chelia and Cynthia just listened to the conversation at hand.
"The power King now holds is incredible…Men," Ichiya chimed in. "In order to stop it we need to destroy the six generators that power the cannon at the same time. We were able to stop it temporarily, but it will be fired soon once again. I don't think we'll be enough to deal with all six, especially with Spade involved."
"So you need people to come outside…" Mirajane nodded slowly, crossing her arms. "I'd be more than happy to assist, but I don't know how to get outside from the depths of this base…"
"Need some assistance?" Rylo said while he and Twilight Zone and Kairi appeared just outside the door. "Because I think you could use the magic tricks of a magician."
.
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"We're running out of time…" Ren said while looking back at Nirvana, then at the Dealer Base. They docked the ship right near the base for easy access.
"They said they'd be out within a few minutes…" Jenny said while tapping her finger against her cheek. Their timing was off either. The ground underneath the base shook violently for a few seconds before caving in. From the hole in the ground came Evanee, Rylo, Ceaser, Adacore, Melanie, Kairi, Flynn, Alexander, Chelia and Mirajane. "Oh, there they are."
"Sorry we're a bit late…" Mirajane said as the group hopped on the ship. "We had to leave Cynthia behind because she didn't want to ride…aheh…"
"Let's cut the chit-chat," Evanee said while tapping her foot. "We have a mission to do, correct? Standing around doing nothing isn't going to accomplish that.
"Of course! Men!" Ichiya exclaimed, and the Christina flew up, and went right for Nirvana.
"Why did I want to ride this ship again…" Melanie groaned slightly while holding her stomach.
"I don't think it's a bad ride…" Kairi said with a slight smile, trying to soothe Melanie a bit.
"We're coming up on it!" Jenny exclaimed, pointing to the large 6-legged structure ahead. "It looks like it's still recovering from the attack."
"Now's our chance!" Chelia exclaimed.
.
.
"Oh, it looks like they're coming back…" Minerva said to Spade while gesturing towards the incoming ship. "And I think they brought some friends, how lovely."
"Tch…" Spade grunted, crossing his arms while trying to formulate a plan. "This isn't too good…but if they brought more than enough people to take out each magic unit, then things may play out for us quite nicely…"
"Mhm…" Minerva merely replied, shrugging Spade off. She looked up as the ship appeared overhead. Her eyes locked with a particular mage on the ship, and the slightest of smirks appeared on her lips. "My, my…I never imagined I'd be seeing you here, Alexander…" She thought to herself. She then turned on her heel and began walking off.
"Wait, where are you going?!" Spade asked.
"Someone has to do the job around here, and it's clear you're too incompetent," Minerva merely replied before vanishing from sight.
"How dare you…!" Spade shouted in a comical manner. He sighed before taking off himself, although in the opposite direction. "I can't fail King! Not now. So get ready mages, because we're about to play on my rules."
.
.
Chelia: "Whoa…this place is huge! How are we supposed to find what we're looking for!?"
Mirajane: "We should split up into small groups. That should be efficient enough for the job."
Spade: "Oh no, don't think it'll be so easy! I have a little surprise for you!"
Next time: The Demon, The Angel, and The Pharaoh!